Henry Pierrepont Papers, 1838-1907 | The Green-Wood Cemetery

The papers of Henry Evelyn Pierrepont were donated to the Green-Wood Cemetery in 1907 by his son, John J. Pierrepont, who was Vice-President of the Green-Wood Cemetery at the time. John sent his father's papers to Mr. Samuel Carey, the Comptroller and Trustee of the Green-Wood. In his letter to Mr. Carey, John states that the papers no longer hold any value to him. The inclusive dates of this collection are from 1838-1907; the bulk dates being 1838-1885.

DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828) was an extraordinary politician from New York who was notable for his powerful place in politics. He served as Assemblyman from 1797-1798, State Senator from 1798-1803, Mayor of New York City from 1803-1815, and Governor from 1817-1823 and 1825-1828. However, his crowning achievement was the establishment of the Erie Canal, where he served as the projects commissioner from 1810-1824. Clinton died on February 11, 1828 and he was buried in Albany, New York. In the 1850s, his remains were removed and interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. To commemorate such an influential man, Henry Pierrepont decided that a grand monument was to be created in his honor. In the DeWitt Clinton Monument series, researchers will find the details of the design project, with monetary figures from the monuments sculptor, Henry Kirke Brown, as well as correspondence between Henry Pierrepont, Robert Ray Esq., and politicians such as Hon. Millard Fillmore (13th President of the United States) and Edward Everett. Pierrepont had invited them to the commemoration ceremony of the statue in 1853. This statue is the second-oldest surviving cast-bronze statue in the United States.

Considerable thought and planning by Pierrepont and other trustees of the cemetery enabled the beauty of Green-Wood Cemetery to evolve. Even more planning went toward the proper treatment of the interred. However, for a man named Charles H. Willson, this was not the case. In 1885, the Green-Wood Cemetery came under investigation by the United States Senate on charges of misconduct and misuse of funds for proper caretaking after Mr. Willson experienced a dramatic event during the burial of his wife. The charges were later dismissed. In this series, researchers will find correspondence from Pierrepont to his acquaintances, including New York Senator Hon. John J. Kiernan and Rev. Theodore Cuyler, as well as news articles pertaining to this event.

The series contains legal documents such as deeds for land ownership from philanthropist William Augustus White, as well as the Brooklyn Bath & Coney Island Rail Road Co., reports of lot holders, minutes from directors meetings, subscriptions for lots and stocks, and correspondence in regards to plot holdings.

Many of the letters and other documents within this collection were written by men who served as past presidents, vice presidents, secretaries, and various other Board of Trustees members, many of whom are now interred at Green-Wood.